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Hideki, Toda, and Fujiuti Kouhei. "50 m-range distance and position measurement method by using two searchlights for autonomous flight device." International Journal of Engineering Research & Science 4, no. 7 (2018): 29–35. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1324112.
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<strong><em>Abstract</em></strong><strong>—</strong> <em>In the present study, 50 m-range distance and position measurement method for autonomous flight device such as four-rotor drone by using two searchlights was proposed, and the precise distance/position measurement performance was evaluated in an outdoor situation. To realize over 10 m long-distance flight of the drone under unstable GPS signal situations such as under the bridge or inside tunnels for periodic inspections, the correct self-position measurement is important for the stable control. This study is to propose a simple method of over 50 m range autonomous four-rotor helicopter movement control using high power 300W two searchlights as InfraRed sources on the ground and the direction of the searchlights sets to the investigation target position such as bridge side. High power light sources of the two searchlights are enabled to measure the correct drone position via an attached drone's camera with an InfraRed filter, and it realizes 1.5 m standard deviation position estimation error when 50 m distance in an outdoor daylight situation. In addition, the limitation of the position detectable condition also measured and analyzed in other experiments. Our proposed method would be effective in the situation that there is no skilled the drone control operator and the flight by visual confirmation of man are hard conditions, and useful to develop the position measurement system with low cost.</em>
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VIGLIETTA, GIOVANNI. "SEARCHING POLYHEDRA BY ROTATING HALF-PLANES." International Journal of Computational Geometry & Applications 22, no. 03 (2012): 243–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s0218195912500070.
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THE SEARCHLIGHT SCHEDULING PROBLEM was first studied in 2-dimensional polygons, where the goal is for point guards in fixed positions to rotate searchlights to catch an evasive intruder. Here the problem is extended to 3-dimensional polyhedra, with the guards now boundary segments who rotate half-planes of illumination. After carefully detailing the 3-dimensional model, several results are established. The first is a nearly direct extension of the planar one-way sweep strategy using what filling guards, a generalization that succeeds despite there being no well-defined we call notion in 3-dimensional space of planar "clockwise rotation." Next follow two results: every polyhedron with r > 0 reflex edges can be searched by at most r2 suitably placed boundary guards, whereas just r edguards suffice if the polyhedron is orthogonal. (Mini-mizing the number of guards to search a given polyhedron is easily seen to be NP-hard.) Finally we show that deciding whether a given set of boundary guards has a successful search schedule is strongly NP-hard. A number of peripheral results are proved en route to these central theorems, and several open problems remain for future work.
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Rosenthal, Eric I., Amanda L. Holt, and Alison M. Sweeney. "Three-dimensional midwater camouflage from a novel two-component photonic structure in hatchetfish skin." Journal of The Royal Society Interface 14, no. 130 (2017): 20161034. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2016.1034.
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The largest habitat by volume on Earth is the oceanic midwater, which is also one of the least understood in terms of animal ecology. The organisms here exhibit a spectacular array of optical adaptations for living in a visual void that have only barely begun to be described. We describe a complex pattern of broadband scattering from the skin ofArgyropelecussp., a hatchetfish found in the mesopelagic zone of the world's oceans. Hatchetfish skin superficially resembles the unpolished side of aluminium foil, but on closer inspection contains a complex composite array of subwavelength-scale dielectric structures. The superficial layer of this array contains dielectric stacks that are rectangular in cross-section, while the deeper layer contains dielectric bundles that are elliptical in cross-section; the cells in both layers have their longest dimension running parallel to the dorsal–ventral axis of the fish. Using the finite-difference time-domain approach and photographic radiometry, we explored the structural origins of this scattering behaviour and its environmental consequences. When the fish's flank is illuminated from an arbitrary incident angle, a portion of the scattered light exits in an arc parallel to the fish's anterior–posterior axis. Simultaneously, some incident light is also scattered downwards through the complex birefringent skin structure and exits from the ventral photophores. We show that this complex scattering pattern will provide camouflage simultaneously against the horizontal radially symmetric solar radiance in this habitat, and the predatory bioluminescent searchlights that are common here. The structure also directs light incident on the flank of the fish into the downwelling, silhouette-hiding counter-illumination of the ventral photophores.
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Hideki, Toda. "Experimental study on four rotor helicopter 10 m-range distance and position measurement method by using two searchlights for autonomous control and the evaluation." International Journal of Engineering Research & Science 6, no. 5 (2020): 07–15. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3869071.
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<strong><em>Abstract</em></strong><strong>—</strong><em>This paper reports experimental result of a distance and position measurement method for autonomous movement control of four-rotor helicopters (drones) that uses two spotlights and comparing with a red marker using case, discuss the results of autonomous flight test evaluations. To conduct autonomous drone flights exceeding 10 m under unstable GPS signal situations, such as under bridges or inside tunnels during periodic maintenance inspections, correct self-positioning measurements are indispensable. This study proposes a simple method whereby autonomous drone movement control can be performed over distances exceeding 10 m by using two high-power 100 V alternating current spotlights set on the ground as infrared (IR) light sources. The spotlights are directed at the investigation target, such as the cracked area of a bridge, and the intense light of the two spotlights provides reference points that enable the drone to determine its correct position. In autonomous flight-testing in an enclosed corridor, our method provides capable of determining the drone’s position at distances up to 15 m with a standard deviation of 0.31 m. Our proposed method would be effective in situations where no skilled drone control operator is available and for flights requiring visual cue confirmations under adverse outdoor conditions.</em>
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GRAY, RICHARD. "Writing American Literary History Sacvan Bercovitch (ed.), The Cambridge History of American Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994–2005, £495.00). Volume One: 1590–1820 (1994, £70.00). Pp. xiii+829. ISBN 0 521 30105 [squf ]. Volume Two: Prose Writing, 1820–1865 (1995, £75.00). Pp. xviii+887. ISBN 0 521 30106 8. Volume Three: Prose Writing, 1860–1920 (2005, £80.00). Pp. xi+813. ISBN 0 521 30107 6. Volume Four: Nineteenth-Century Poetry, 1800–1910 (2004, £75.00). Pp. x+562. ISBN 0 521 30108 4. Volume Five: Poetry and Criticism, 1900–1950 (2003, £75.00). Pp. xi+624. ISBN 0 521 30109 2. Volume Six: Prose Writing, 1910–1950 (2002, £70.00). Pp. xx+620. ISBN 0 521 49731 0. Volume Seven: Prose Writing, 1940–1990 (1999, £75.00). Pp. xxiii+795. ISBN 0 521 49732 9. Volume Eight: Poetry and Criticism, 1940–1995 (1996, £75.00). Pp. viii+545. ISBN 0 521 49733 7." Journal of American Studies 40, no. 2 (2006): 399–411. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021875806001447.
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Each generation needs to rewrite literary history. And it may be that this generation needs to do it more than most, if only because the proliferation of schools and theories has turned what was once common critical ground into a battlefield. American books, among others, have become a site of struggle, and American writers have been among those caught in the criss-crossing searchlights of ethnic and gender studies, interdisciplinary investigations and studies of popular culture, language and communication. Just how far things have gone can be measured by the fact that every term in the phrase “history of American literature,” is now open to debate. The textuality of history and the historicity of the text have become the most contentious issues in contemporary criticism, while the question of nationhood, in particular, is under scrutiny. In a famous phrase, Walt Whitman described his work as a language experiment, an attempt to summon a nation into being through words. The slippery, plural nature of American identity and the bewildering contingencies of American history that drove Whitman to say this feed into the more challenging of the recent accounts of American writing.
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Otuka, Akira, Masaya Matsumura, and Makoto Tokuda. "Dispersal of the Common Cutworm, Spodoptera litura, Monitored by Searchlight Trap and Relationship with Occurrence of Soybean Leaf Damage." Insects 11, no. 7 (2020): 427. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects11070427.
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The common cutworm, Spodoptera litura Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a major pest of soybean. Pheromone traps are used to monitor male adults, but the catch peaks do not always predict leaf damage in soybean fields. Thus, there is no accurate means of forecasting soybean damage, and insecticide is applied on the basis of farmers’ observations of actual damage in fields. To understand the occurrence of soybean leaf damage, the dispersal of S. litura in a soybean field in southwestern Japan was preliminarily investigated using a searchlight trap in comparison to a pheromone trap at one location, from August to mid-October in 2016–2018. To determine the relationship between pest arrival and crop damage, trap catch numbers and the number of soybean leaves damaged by 1st-instar larvae were examined by separately comparing raw numbers and cumulative numbers. The raw catch numbers of the two trap types in August and September 2016 and 2018 preceded subsequent damage peaks by an average of 5.3 days. This temporal difference coincided with the estimated duration of the egg stage plus an assumed mating period. Furthermore, the cumulative catch numbers of the two traps in August and September were linearly associated with cumulative damaged leaves in the same period in each year and in the three-year period. The coefficient of determination (R2) of linear regression between the cumulative catch numbers of the searchlight trap and the cumulative damaged leaves for the three-year period was much higher than that between the cumulative catch of the pheromone trap and cumulative damage. This suggests that soybean leaf damage is closely linked to the number of S. litura arrivals at the survey site. Thus, the searchlight trap captured S. litura arrivals better than the pheromone trap. As the linear regression function of the cumulative catch of the searchlight trap for the three-year period was tentatively correlated with a prefectural economic injury level for soybean fields, it might be feasible to predict S. litura-induced soybean damage using searchlight traps. The cumulative female catch number of the searchlight trap was also linearly associated with damaged leaves, but the coefficient of determination was generally lower than that with the cumulative total catch. The female ratio of searchlight trap catches in September was <0.5 in contrast to S. litura migrating overseas (>0.5). The advantages and disadvantages of the two trapping methods, as well as necessary further studies are discussed. Our findings provide a foundation for S. litura monitoring with searchlight traps.
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Lin, Yan, Lisa Butterfield, William A. LaFramboise, et al. "Comparison of SearchLight and Luminex multiplex assays: A case study of 27 cytokines in 156 melanoma blood serum samples." Journal of Clinical Oncology 30, no. 30_suppl (2012): 79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1200/jco.2012.30.30_suppl.79.
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79 Background: Searchlight and Luminex are two popular multiplex immunoassay platforms. Yet, very few studies have directly compared the performance of these two platforms on real clinical samples. Here we report a case study of 27 cytokines assayed by both platforms on 156 previously banked melanoma serum samples. Methods: Searchlight (Aushon) and Luminex (Invitrogene) assays were carried out according to protocols specified by the manufactures. Intra-experimental coefficients of variation (CV) of the intensities were calculated using the technical duplicates. The detection rate for each marker was calculated based on the cutoffs specified by the manufactures. Spearman’s correlation coefficient (r) was used to quantify the agreement of the measurements of each marker between the two platforms. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare CVs and detection rates between the platforms. Results: We observed significantly higher intra-experimental CVs in the Searchlight data (median=8.9%, range=4.9%-11.9%) than in the Luminex data (median=4.1%, range=2%-7.5%, p<0.0001). The CVs were not correlated between platforms (r=-0.08, p=0.69), suggesting that the CVs were not sample specific. We also observed a higher detection rate using the Searchlight platform (median=99%, range=26%-100%) than the Luminex platform (median=94%, range=18%-100%). However, the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.62). Spearman’s r for cytokine concentrations between platforms ranged from -0.13 to 0.86 (mean=0.44). The disagreement for 5 of the 6 cytokines with r<=0.1 can be explained by their standard curves. Conclusions: In this case study of 156 samples, Luminex platform demonstrated significantly better reproducibility measured by CV and the Searchlight platform appeared to be more sensitive measured by the detection rate and the overall range of the measurements. The agreement between the two platforms ranges widely among the markers. Careful examination of the standard curves is critical to interpretation of the cytokine data. Assays of the cytokines by single analyte ELISA is ongoing.
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Gulyaikin, Alexander M., Michael S. Аlimbekov, and Andrey S. Palagushkin. "The Spotlight Based on the Solid-State Laser Light Source." Light & Engineering, no. 04-2023 (August 2023): 78–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.33383/2022-121.
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The spotlight development on the solid-state laser light source is considered in this scientific article. The light sources characteristics are as close as possible to the characteristics and parameters of modern LED light sources. The main aim is to reach the luminous flux value of 3000 lm. That is analogues with the luminous flux of modern LED searchlights. As well as the photometric and electrical parameters, values and determination of the measures to improve the design of the spotlight are of the interest. The spotlight sample has been tested. And the test results show that after the value of 3000 lm reached the main failing of light source is the low value of its luminous efficacy, equal to 57 lm/W. In order to increase the light output of the searchlight, there are the ways of modernization of its construction suggested in the article. The previous results show that the measures suggested will allow us to increase the value of luminous efficacy to 100 lm/W. Besides that, such parameters and characteristics of the spotlight as the correlated colour temperature (CCT), colour rendering index (CRI), wattage, luminous intensity and spectral light distribution are measured and submitted in the article. The obtained energetic characteristics of the sample allow us to conclude that application of such light sources is approved in special conditions. Absence of electronic components in the distant radiation source of white light allows increasing the light source reliability substantially. Therefore, the laser spotlights are acceptable for application in the hard-to-reach places for installation of the lighting equipment, for example, on high places where the equipment demount used for repairing works is too difficult. It is actually to use also the developed light sources at the explosive industrial facilities having the current-transmitting elements of construction, especially having the open contacts. That allows reducing the safety of facility operation significantly.
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Yen, William C. K., and C. Y. Tang. "An optimal algorithm for solving the searchlight guarding problem on weighted two-terminal series-parallel graphs." Acta Informatica 36, no. 2 (1999): 143–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s002360050156.
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Kowanda, Michelle, Lindsey Cartner, Catherine Kentros, et al. "Availability of Services and Caregiver Burden: Supporting Individuals With Neurogenetic Conditions During the COVID-19 Pandemic." Journal of Child Neurology 36, no. 9 (2021): 760–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/08830738211001209.
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Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person services for individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities were disrupted globally, resulting in a transition to remote delivery of services and therapies. For individuals with neurogenetic conditions, reliance on nonclinical caregivers to facilitate all therapies and care was unprecedented. The study aimed to (1) describe caregivers’ reported impact on their dependent’s services, therapies, medical needs, and impact on themselves as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) assess the relationship between the extent of disruption of services and the degree of self-reported caregiver burden. Two online questionnaires were completed by caregivers participating in Simons Searchlight in April and May 2020. Surveys were completed by caregivers of children or dependent adults with neurodevelopmental genetic conditions in Simons Searchlight. Caregivers reported that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic moderately or severely disrupted services, therapies, or medical supports. The majority of caregivers were responsible for providing some aspect of therapy. Caregivers reported “feeling stressed but able to deal with problems as they arise,” and reported lower anxiety at follow-up. Caregivers reported that telehealth services were not meeting the needs of those with complex medical needs. Future surveys will assess if and how medical systems, educational programs, therapists, and caregivers adapt to the challenges arising during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Berman, Neil J., James Plant, Ray W. Turner, and Leonard Maler. "Excitatory Amino Acid Receptors at a Feedback Pathway in the Electrosensory System: Implications for the Searchlight Hypothesis." Journal of Neurophysiology 78, no. 4 (1997): 1869–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/jn.1997.78.4.1869.
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Berman, Neil J., James Plant, Ray W. Turner, and Leonard Maler. Excitatory amino acid receptors at a feedback pathway in the electrosensory system: implications for the searchlight hypothesis. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 1869–1881, 1997. The electrosensory lateral line lobe (ELL) of the South American gymnotiform fish Apteronotus leptorhynchus has a laminar structure: electroreceptor afferents terminate ventrally whereas feedback input distributes to a superficial molecular layer containing the dendrites of the ELL principle (pyramidal) cells. There are two feedback pathways: a direct feedback projection that enters the ELL via a myelinated tract (stratum fibrosum, StF) and terminates in the ventral molecular layer (VML) and an indirect projection that enters as parallel fibers and terminates in the dorsal molecular layer. It has been proposed that the direct feedback pathway serves as a “searchlight” mechanism. This study characterizes StF synaptic transmission to determine whether the physiology of the direct feedback projection is consistent with this hypothesis. We used field and intracellular recordings from the ELL to investigate synaptic transmission of the StF in an in vitro slice preparation. Stimulation of the StF produced field potentials with a maximal negativity confined to a narrow band of tissue dorsal to the StF. Current source density analysis revealed two current sinks: an early sink within the StF and a later sink that corresponded to the anatomically defined VML. Field potential recordings from VML demonstrated that stimulation of the StF evoked an excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) that peaked at a latency of 4–7 ms with a slow decay (∼50 ms) to baseline. Intracellular recordings from pyramidal cells revealed that StF-evoked EPSPs consisted of at least two components: a fast gap junction mediated EPSP (peak 1.2–1.8 ms) and a chemical synaptic potential (peak 4–7 ms) with a slow decay phase (∼50 ms). The amplitudes of the peak and decay phases of the chemical EPSP were increased by depolarizing current injection. Pharmacological studies demonstrated that the chemical EPSP was mainly due to ionotropic glutamate receptors with both N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) and non-NMDA components. NMDA receptors contributed substantially to both the early and late phase of the EPSP, whereas non-NMDA receptors contributed mainly to the early phase. Stimulation of the StF at physiological rates (100–200 Hz, 100 ms) produced an augmenting depolarization of the membrane potential of pyramidal cells. Temporal summation and a voltage-dependent enhancement of later EPSPs in the stimulus train permitted the compound EPSP to reach spike threshold. The nonlinear behavior of StF synaptic potentials is appropriate for the putative role of the direct feedback pathway as part of a searchlight mechanism allowing these fish to increase the electrodetectability of scanned objects.
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Lee, In-Seon, Won-mo Jung, Hi-Joon Park, and Younbyoung Chae. "Spatial Information of Somatosensory Stimuli in the Brain: Multivariate Pattern Analysis of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data." Neural Plasticity 2020 (June 29, 2020): 1–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8307580.
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Background. Multivoxel pattern analysis has provided new evidence on somatotopic representation in the human brain. However, the effects of stimulus modality (e.g., penetrating needle versus non-penetrating touch) and level of classification (e.g., multiclass versus binary classification) on patterns of brain activity encoding spatial information of body parts have not yet been studied. We hypothesized that performance of brain-based prediction models may vary across the types of stimuli, and neural patterns of voxels in the SI and parietal cortex would significantly contribute to the prediction of stimulated locations. Objective. We aimed to (1) test whether brain responses to tactile stimuli could distinguish among stimulated locations on the body surface, (2) investigate whether the stimulus modality and number of classes affect classification performance, and (3) localize brain regions encoding the spatial information of somatosensory stimuli. Methods. Fifteen healthy participants completed two functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and were stimulated via the insertion of acupuncture needles or by non-invasive touch stimuli (5.46-sized von Frey filament). Participants received the stimuli at four different locations on the upper and lower limbs (two sites each) for 5 min while blood-oxygen-level-dependent activity (BOLD) was measured using 3-Tesla MRI. We performed multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) using parameter estimate images of each trial for each participant and the support vector classifier (SVC) function, and the prediction accuracy and other MVPA outcomes were evaluated using stratified five-fold cross validation. We estimated the significance of the classification accuracy using a permutation test with randomly labeled training data (n=10,000). Searchlight analysis was conducted to identify brain regions associated with significantly higher accuracy compared to predictions based on chance as obtained from a random classifier. Results. For the four-class classification (classifying four stimulated points on the body), SVC analysis of whole-brain beta values in response to acupuncture stimulation was able to discriminate among stimulated locations (mean accuracy, 0.31; q<0.01). The searchlight analysis found that values related to the right primary somatosensory cortex (SI) and intraparietal sulcus were significantly more accurate than those due to chance (p<0.01). On the other hand, the same classifier did not predict stimulated locations accurately for touch stimulation (mean accuracy, 0.25; q=0.66). For binary classification (discriminating between two stimulated body parts, i.e., the arm or leg), the SVC algorithm successfully predicted the stimulated body parts for both acupuncture (mean accuracy, 0.63; q<0.001) and touch stimulation (mean accuracy, 0.60; q<0.01). Searchlight analysis revealed that predictions based on the right SI, primary motor cortex (MI), paracentral gyrus, and superior frontal gyrus were significantly more accurate compared to predictions based on chance (p<0.05). Conclusion. Our findings suggest that the SI, as well as the MI, intraparietal sulcus, paracentral gyrus, and superior frontal gyrus, is responsible for the somatotopic representation of body parts stimulated by tactile stimuli. The MVPA approach for identifying neural patterns encoding spatial information of somatosensory stimuli may be affected by the stimulus type (penetrating needle versus non-invasive touch) and the number of classes (classification of four small points on the body versus two large body parts). Future studies with larger samples will identify stimulus-specific neural patterns representing stimulated locations, independent of subjective tactile perception and emotional responses. Identification of distinct neural patterns of body surfaces will help in improving neural biomarkers for pain and other sensory percepts in the future.
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Omo-Ojugo, Grace Iyengumena. "Towards African Renaissance: A Linguistic Study of Ayi Kwei Armah’s Two Thousand Seasons." European Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 2, no. 1 (2022): 17–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.24018/ejsocial.2022.2.1.194.
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This study focuses on the exploration of Africa concept of a dream world – a continent marching towards a rebirth, towards that utopia that Joseph Edoki wrote about in The Upward Path (Edoki, 2008). This Africa concept of rebirth does not believe in jumping the gun to get to the utopia, but rather beams the searchlight on the opportunities, challenges and prospects that are littered all along the trajectory of the journey to that utopia Africans look forward to. For long, Africa as a continent was captured in slavery and this took its toll on the people as they developed inferiority complex, low self-esteem, no love loss, among others. Thus, at the expiration of colonialism, so much damage had been done. Ayi Kwei Armah’s Two Thousand Seasons (Armah, 1979) warns against a repeat of the cause of the desolation in the first place, and then illustrates that the only escape route is to return to “The Way” which Africans have lost. Thus, the text is about a people depressed, a people neglected, and a people striving to recover their identity even from the hands of their own people. This paper is a linguistic study of Armah’s Two Thousand Seasons set to investigate the novelist’s level of success in the employment of the creative linguistic features aimed at driving home his message about African struggle for survival on the one hand, and highlighting the difficulties encountered in the course of pursuing rebirth on the other hand. Halliday’s Systemic Functional Approach has been adopted in this work.
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Toedter, Gary, Karen Hayden, Carrie Wagner, and Carrie Brodmerkel. "Simultaneous Detection of Eight Analytes in Human Serum by Two Commercially Available Platforms for Multiplex Cytokine Analysis." Clinical and Vaccine Immunology 15, no. 1 (2007): 42–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/cvi.00211-07.
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ABSTRACT The accurate detection and quantitation of cytokines in serum are important in the study of disease mechanisms, pathogenesis, and treatment. Serum cytokines can reflect processes that are occurring at the cellular or tissue level and thus provide a means of indirectly monitoring these processes. Multiplex detection of cytokines allows the simultaneous measurement of multiple cytokines in a sample, increasing the efficiency of measuring the cytokines while reducing the serum sample volumes required for the testing. Two commercially available multiplex platforms were evaluated (Pierce SearchLight and Meso Scale Discovery), using multiplexes capable of simultaneously detecting eight cytokines. The cytokines analyzed in this study were gamma interferon, vascular endothelial growth factor, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6 (IL-6), macrophage inflammatory protein 1β, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, IL-12p40, and IL-4. The range of quantitation of the platforms, the recovery of spiked cytokines, and the detection of the cytokines in serum samples from subjects with ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriasis were examined. The findings showed that the detection of the cytokines was highly dependent upon the platform, with the consistency of the detection of cytokines across platforms being dependent upon the cytokine being analyzed. A careful examination of platform assay performance must be made prior to utilizing multiplex platforms in a study. While some cytokines will give similar patterns of results across platforms, others will be highly variable. The use of the same platform within a study or across studies where data will be compared is advised.
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Feng, H. Q., K. M. Wu, Y. X. Ni, D. F. Cheng, and Y. Y. Guo. "Return migration ofHelicoverpa armigera(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) during autumn in northern China." Bulletin of Entomological Research 95, no. 4 (2005): 361–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1079/ber2005367.
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AbstractThe autumn migration ofHelicoverpa armigera(Hübner) was observed with radar and two types of light-trap at Langfang, Hebei province, China in 2001 and 2002. The sudden increase in the proportion ofH. armigeramoths in the searchlight trap indicated migration into the area and catches increased 10-fold during the second half of the night due to the landing of migrants before dawn. The moths’ migratory flights took place at up to 2000 m above the ground, and moths flew differentially at times, and heights, when favourable (i.e. northerly) winds occurred. This facilitated the maximum displacement of moths towards the south during these ‘return’ migrations. The moths flew over the radar site at consistently high densities through the night, and the resulting flight durations ofc. 10 h, at displacement speeds of 30–33 km h−1, would allow moths emerging in the far northeast of China (i.e. Liaoning and Jilin provinces and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region) to migrate into northern China (Hebei, Shandong and Henan provinces). The association of the seasonal migratory movements ofH. armigerawith crops in northern China is briefly discussed.
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Lee, Woosik, Jong-Hoon Youn, and Teukseob Song. "Prime-number-assisted block-based neighbor discovery protocol in wireless sensor networks." International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks 15, no. 1 (2019): 155014771982624. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1550147719826240.
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During the initial deployment time, wireless sensors continually search their neighbors. The neighbor discovery is not an one-time event because the network topology can be changed anytime due to node mobility and failure. The neighbor discovery protocol helps sensor nodes to find neighboring sensors within their communication range. This study proposes a novel neighbor discovery protocol called the prime-number-assisted block-based neighbor discovery protocol, which intelligently changes the sensor schedules based on the greater common divisor of two sensors’ discovery cycle lengths. For example, for two sensors whose duty cycles are different, if the lengths of their discovery schedules are relatively prime, the prime-number-assisted block-based neighbor discovery protocol simply uses the balanced incomplete block design–based neighbor discovery protocol without adding any additional active slots; otherwise, it changes the original balanced incomplete block design–based schedule using a prime number. In this study, we compare the performances of prime-number-assisted block-based neighbor discovery protocol and other recently proposed neighbor discovery protocols (U-Connect, Disco, SearchLight, and Hedis) using a TOSSIM simulator. The experimental results confirm the superiority of prime-number-assisted block-based neighbor discovery protocol over other neighbor discovery protocols in terms of discovery latency and energy consumptions.
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Contreras, Juan Manuel, Jessica Schirmer, Mahzarin R. Banaji, and Jason P. Mitchell. "Common Brain Regions with Distinct Patterns of Neural Responses during Mentalizing about Groups and Individuals." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 25, no. 9 (2013): 1406–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00403.
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An individual has a mind; a group does not. Yet humans routinely endow groups with mental states irreducible to any of their members (e.g., “scientists hope to understand every aspect of nature”). But are these mental states categorically similar to those we attribute to individuals? In two fMRI experiments, we tested this question against a set of brain regions that are consistently associated with social cognition—medial pFC, anterior temporal lobe, TPJ, and medial parietal cortex. Participants alternately answered questions about the mental states and physical attributes of individual people and groups. Regions previously associated with mentalizing about individuals were also robustly responsive to judgments of groups, suggesting that perceivers deploy the same social-cognitive processes when thinking about the mind of an individual and the “mind” of a group. However, multivariate searchlight analysis revealed that several of these regions showed distinct multivoxel patterns of response to groups and individual people, suggesting that perceivers maintain distinct representations of groups and individuals during mental state inferences. These findings suggest that perceivers mentalize about groups in a manner qualitatively similar to mentalizing about individual people, but that the brain nevertheless maintains important distinctions between the representations of such entities.
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Ronconi, Luca, Nikolaas N. Oosterhof, Claudia Bonmassar, and David Melcher. "Multiple oscillatory rhythms determine the temporal organization of perception." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114, no. 51 (2017): 13435–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1714522114.
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Incoming sensory input is condensed by our perceptual system to optimally represent and store information. In the temporal domain, this process has been described in terms of temporal windows (TWs) of integration/segregation, in which the phase of ongoing neural oscillations determines whether two stimuli are integrated into a single percept or segregated into separate events. However, TWs can vary substantially, raising the question of whether different TWs map onto unique oscillations or, rather, reflect a single, general fluctuation in cortical excitability (e.g., in the alpha band). We used multivariate decoding of electroencephalography (EEG) data to investigate perception of stimuli that either repeated in the same location (two-flash fusion) or moved in space (apparent motion). By manipulating the interstimulus interval (ISI), we created bistable stimuli that caused subjects to perceive either integration (fusion/apparent motion) or segregation (two unrelated flashes). Training a classifier searchlight on the whole channels/frequencies/times space, we found that the perceptual outcome (integration vs. segregation) could be reliably decoded from the phase of prestimulus oscillations in right parieto-occipital channels. The highest decoding accuracy for the two-flash fusion task (ISI = 40 ms) was evident in the phase of alpha oscillations (8–10 Hz), while the highest decoding accuracy for the apparent motion task (ISI = 120 ms) was evident in the phase of theta oscillations (6–7 Hz). These results reveal a precise relationship between specific TW durations and specific oscillations. Such oscillations at different frequencies may provide a hierarchical framework for the temporal organization of perception.
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Ike, Onyeka. "The utilization of literary techniques in Flora Nwapa’s Never Again and Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun." EJOTMAS: Ekpoma Journal of Theatre and Media Arts 7, no. 1-2 (2020): 129–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ejotmas.v7i1-2.9.
Full textAbstract:
This research investigates the utilization of literary techniques in two Nigerian historical fictions: Never Again by Flora Nwapa and Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie. Nwapa and Adichie are two creative writers belonging to two different generations of Nigerian writers. While the former is of the first, the latter is of the third generation. In their two different novels in focus, it is observed that they deployed diverse literary techniques in variegated fashions to achieve the same goal – creating fictional works that deal with the sensitive issues of the Nigerian Civil War. Using new historicism (NH) as its theoretical anchor, this study uses historical-analytic and literary methods to posit that no two creative writers apply literary techniques in an identical manner even when their subject matter is the same. Rather, the deployment of literary tools is usually a function of talent, training, idiosyncrasies, orientation and propensities of a particular author. It is, of course, the patterns of such deployments that create and confer identity and uniqueness to various writers across the globe, such that when a section of the work of a known author is read, his or her name comes to mind. Using New Historicism as a critical searchlight, this paper evaluates compares and contrasts the utilization of literary techniques in the two novels aforementioned. Both writers have utilized literary elements in various ways to foreground and portray the cancerous issues of corruption, ethnicity, nepotism and avarice – the issues that led to the unfortunate and devastating Civil War, and till today continues to limit the progress of Nigeria.
 Keywords: Literary techniques, NH, Never Again, Nigerian Civil War, Half of a Yellow Sun
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Pateman, John. "Information for Social Change Issue 4 Editorial." Information for Social Change, no. 4 (September 1, 1996): 1–2. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4619933.
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This journal now has an ISSN and ISC has become an organisation in liaison with the Library Association. This will allow ISC to: book accommodation at LAHQ at a reduced rate; place news, calendar items and adverts in the LAR; buy LAP publications at a discount; receive copies of LA Council papers; apply for grants of up to £500. ISC has already submitted a funding application to: help pay for this journal; issue a new "Radical Booksellers Directory" and other publications; pay for publicity, travel and other expenses; and subsidise future ISC conferences and events. ISC has become involved in three campaigns recently. One of these is to defend two small bookshops who are threatened with a libel action for stocking ''Searchlight". The second campaign ISC is supporting is to get the LA to establish a Black Library Workers Group with its own funding, conference. newsletter, seats on Council etc. The third ISC campaign is in support of the Muckdonald Two. The continuing McDonalds libel trial is all about the freedom to publish and distribute information about the activities of an unpleasant multinational. There are articles on libraries in China and Vietnam by Kathleen Ladizesky and Len Aldis. These papers were presented at the ISC/ Link conference "Better Read Than Dead". There is a short history of the Commonweal Collection by Sylvia Barlow and a piece by Sara Lobman on the culture war against the use of public libraries in America. Our regular features include book reviews (a riot to read), other organisations (fellow travellers) and Christopher Merrett's letter from South Africa.
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Chiu, Yu-Chin, Michael Esterman, Yuefeng Han, Heather Rosen, and Steven Yantis. "Decoding Task-based Attentional Modulation during Face Categorization." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 23, no. 5 (2011): 1198–204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2010.21503.
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Attention is a neurocognitive mechanism that selects task-relevant sensory or mnemonic information to achieve current behavioral goals. Attentional modulation of cortical activity has been observed when attention is directed to specific locations, features, or objects. However, little is known about how high-level categorization task set modulates perceptual representations. In the current study, observers categorized faces by gender (male vs. female) or race (Asian vs. White). Each face was perceptually ambiguous in both dimensions, such that categorization of one dimension demanded selective attention to task-relevant information within the face. We used multivoxel pattern classification to show that task-specific modulations evoke reliably distinct spatial patterns of activity within three face-selective cortical regions (right fusiform face area and bilateral occipital face areas). This result suggests that patterns of activity in these regions reflect not only stimulus-specific (i.e., faces vs. houses) responses but also task-specific (i.e., race vs. gender) attentional modulation. Furthermore, exploratory whole-brain multivoxel pattern classification (using a searchlight procedure) revealed a network of dorsal fronto-parietal regions (left middle frontal gyrus and left inferior and superior parietal lobule) that also exhibit distinct patterns for the two task sets, suggesting that these regions may represent abstract goals during high-level categorization tasks.
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Williams, Adrian L., and Andrew T. Smith. "Representation of Eye Position in the Human Parietal Cortex." Journal of Neurophysiology 104, no. 4 (2010): 2169–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/jn.00713.2009.
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Neurons that signal eye position are thought to make a vital contribution to distinguishing real world motion from retinal motion caused by eye movements, but relatively little is known about such neurons in the human brain. Here we present data from functional MRI experiments that are consistent with the existence of neurons sensitive to eye position in darkness in the human posterior parietal cortex. We used the enhanced sensitivity of multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) techniques, combined with a searchlight paradigm, to isolate brain regions sensitive to direction of gaze. During data acquisition, participants were cued to direct their gaze to the left or right for sustained periods as part of a block-design paradigm. Following the exclusion of saccade-related activity from the data, the multivariate analysis showed sensitivity to tonic eye position in two localized posterior parietal regions, namely the dorsal precuneus and, more weakly, the posterior aspect of the intraparietal sulcus. Sensitivity to eye position was also seen in anterior portions of the occipital cortex. The observed sensitivity of visual cortical neurons to eye position, even in the total absence of visual stimulation, is possibly a result of feedback from posterior parietal regions that receive eye position signals and explicitly encode direction of gaze.
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Di Marco, Mariagrazia, and Laure Vallotton. "Medical devices: Regulatory environment forecasts." Regulatory Affairs Watch 1, no. 2 (2019): 3–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.54920/scto.2019.rawatch.2.3.
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The regulatory landscape of medical devices is currently undergoing tremendous changes in the EU – changes that will directly affect Switzerland. Following numerous serious incidents resulting from medical devices (most notably, hip prostheses and defective silicone breast implants), a searchlight has been cast on the manufacturing, marketing, and surveillance of medical devices, as they stand in the EU. The systems in place contained many loopholes and shortcuts, which allowed some poor-quality and risk-compromising devices to be authorised. Consequently, the EU decided to tighten the regulatory procedures and two new EU regulations entered into force in 2017. They will apply, starting in 2020 and 2022, respectively. These changes set out in the regulations seek to improve medical device safety and performance and will carry consequences in terms of clinical evaluations and investigations on the devices, and how they are conducted. Switzerland is currently adapting its legislation on medical devices, to ensure that Swiss-based patients will also benefit from the improvements made. At the same time, only by aligning its own legislation to EU developments, will Switzerland be able to maintain its position as an equal partner in the EU internal market for medical devices. Nevertheless, some issues still need to be solved urgently for a smooth transition to take place.
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Ogbeide, Ivie Ologhosa, John Obiora Anyaduba, and Obehioye Usiomo Akogo. "Firm Attributes and Corporate Tax Aggressiveness in Nigeria." American Journal of Finance 7, no. 2 (2022): 34–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.47672/ajf.1100.
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Purpose: The study examined the impact of firm attributes on tax aggressiveness in Nigeria. The study employed the longitudinal research design.
 Methodology: The population consisted of the 13 listed commercial banks quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The final sample, after excluding firms with incomplete data, consisted of 13 Nigerian banks for a period of nine financial years (2012-2020). Data for the study were collected from the annual reports and financial statements of the selected banks. Two alternative measures of tax aggressiveness (GAAP-ETR and D_BTD) were employed and the data was analysed using the panel data regression technique while MAPE and Theil’s inequality coefficient was used in evaluating the forecast abilities of the models.
 Findings: The findings of the analysis revealed that firm size and firm complexity have significant positive relationship with tax aggressiveness, firm age and profitability asserted significant negative impact respectively on tax aggressiveness.
 Recommendations: The study recommends that regulatory bodies and tax authorities should beam their searchlight on the tax saving strategies of small size companies with a view to discouraging aggressive tax avoidance schemes. It was also recommended that regulators should increase their monitoring of the older firms as a strategy for reducing potential tax evasions while encouraging appropriate tax savings strategies to ensure greater tax compliance.
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Vorotkov, Michael, Alexandra Sinelschikova, and Martin Griffiths. "Optical Matrix Device: Technical Aspects of a New Tool for the Detection and Recording of Small Nocturnal Aerial Targets." Journal of Navigation 62, no. 1 (2008): 23–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0373463308005031.
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The detection of flying targets in the night sky has provided interest for bird migration research over many years with methods largely dependent on moon watching or the use of radar and infrared camera. These methods lack the versatility of the system described in this paper which detects and automatically records aerial targets in the night sky of a size greater than 5 cm and at a distance of 100 to 1000 metres from the observer. The principle design features are first, an optical device for receiving images of targets on two high-sensitivity CCD matrices when illuminated by white light from searchlight beams and secondly, instantaneous parallactic electronic computation enabling the distance from device to target to be accurately measured, and sequential images of each target to be recorded to computer. The device has been tested on targets during the main seasonal nocturnal migration of birds and provides accurate image details of important target flight parameters including: altitude, linear size (wing span and body length), direction of flight (ground track), orientation of the body axis – heading, ground speed, wing-beat frequency, number of wing-beats in each series of beats, duration of the pause between each series of wing-beats, and type of flight trajectory. There are also the potential practical applications for aviation bird-strike at night as well as the remote monitoring of insects, bats and other targets of natural and artificial origin.
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Anyaduba, John Obiora, and Ivie Ologhosa Ogbeide. "Firm Attributes and Corporate Tax Aggressiveness: A Comparative Study of Nigeria and South Africa Banks." Accounting and Finance Research 11, no. 2 (2022): 18. http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/afr.v11n2p18.
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The aim of this paper is to investigate the link between firm attributes and tax aggressiveness in Nigeria and South Africa. A comparative analysis was carried out on the variables of firm size, age, profitability, leverage, liquidity, complexity, foreign ownership and tax aggressiveness on banks in Nigeria and South Africa. The study employed the longitudinal research design and took a comparative analysis approach. The population consists of the 13 listed commercial banks quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the 16 local commercial banks listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The time frame for the study was from 2012-2020. Data collated was analysed using the techniques of descriptive statistic, correlation and panel data regression technique while MAPE and Theil’s inequality coefficient were used in evaluating the forecast abilities of the models. Two alternative measures of tax aggressiveness (GAAP-ETR and D_BTD) were adopted as dependent variables. The panel data collected was analysed. The result of the Nigerian model (using the D_BTD measure) showed that firm size and firm complexity both have a significant positive relationship with tax aggressiveness while firm age and profitability asserted significant negative impacts on tax aggressiveness. The outcome of the South Africa model (using the GAAP-ETR measure) showed that firm age and profitability have a significant negative relationship with tax aggressiveness while firm size and liquidity have significant positive relationships with tax aggressiveness. The study recommends, that regulatory bodies and tax authorities should beam their searchlight on tax saving strategies of small size companies with a view to effectively monitoring their aggressive tax avoidance schemes.
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Derrfuss, Jan, Matthias Ekman, Michael Hanke, Marc Tittgemeyer, and Christian J. Fiebach. "Distractor-resistant Short-Term Memory Is Supported by Transient Changes in Neural Stimulus Representations." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 29, no. 9 (2017): 1547–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01141.
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Goal-directed behavior in a complex world requires the maintenance of goal-relevant information despite multiple sources of distraction. However, the brain mechanisms underlying distractor-resistant working or short-term memory (STM) are not fully understood. Although early single-unit recordings in monkeys and fMRI studies in humans pointed to an involvement of lateral prefrontal cortices, more recent studies highlighted the importance of posterior cortices for the active maintenance of visual information also in the presence of distraction. Here, we used a delayed match-to-sample task and multivariate searchlight analyses of fMRI data to investigate STM maintenance across three extended delay phases. Participants maintained two samples (either faces or houses) across an unfilled pre-distractor delay, a distractor-filled delay, and an unfilled post-distractor delay. STM contents (faces vs. houses) could be decoded above-chance in all three delay phases from occipital, temporal, and posterior parietal areas. Classifiers trained to distinguish face versus house maintenance successfully generalized from pre- to post-distractor delays and vice versa, but not to the distractor delay period. Furthermore, classifier performance in all delay phases was correlated with behavioral performance in house, but not face, trials. Our results demonstrate the involvement of distributed posterior, but not lateral prefrontal, cortices in active maintenance during and after distraction. They also show that the neural code underlying STM maintenance is transiently changed in the presence of distractors and reinstated after distraction. The correlation with behavior suggests that active STM maintenance is particularly relevant in house trials, whereas face trials might rely more strongly on contributions from long-term memory.
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Leonards, Ute, Stefan Sunaert, Paul Van Hecke, and Guy A. Orban. "Attention Mechanisms in Visual Search—An fMRI Study." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 12, supplement 2 (2000): 61–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/089892900564073.
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The human visual system is usually confronted with many different objects at a time, with only some of them reaching consciousness. Reaction-time studies have revealed two different strategies by which objects are selected for further processing: an automatic, efficient search process, and a conscious, so-called inefficient search [Treisman, A. (1991). Search, similarity, and integration of features between and within dimensions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 17, 652-676; Treisman, A., & Gelade, G. (1980). A feature integration theory of attention. Cognitive Psychology, 12, 97-136; Wolfe, J. M. (1996). Visual search. In H. Pashler (Ed.), Attention. London: University College London Press]. Two different theories have been proposed to account for these search processes. Parallel theories presume that both types of search are treated by a single mechanism that is modulated by attentional and computational demands. Serial theories, in contrast, propose that parallel processing may underlie efficient search, but inefficient searching requires an additional serial mechanism, an attentional “spotlight” (Treisman, A., 1991) that successively shifts attention to different locations in the visual field. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we show that the cerebral networks involved in efficient and inefficient search overlap almost completely. Only the superior frontal region, known to be involved in working memory [Courtney, S. M., Petit, L., Maisog, J. M., Ungerleider, L. G., & Haxby, J. V. (1998). An area specialized for spatial working memory in human frontal cortex. Science, 279, 1347-1351], and distinct from the frontal eye fields, that control spatial shifts of attention, was specifically involved in inefficient search. Activity modulations correlated with subjects' behavior best in the extrastriate cortical areas, where the amount of activity depended on the number of distracting elements in the display. Such a correlation was not observed in the parietal and frontal regions, usually assumed as being involved in spatial attention processing. These results can be interpreted in two ways: the most likely is that visual search does not require serial processing, otherwise we must assume the existence of a serial searchlight that operates in the extrastriate cortex but differs from the visuospatial shifts of attention involving the parietal and frontal regions.
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Davis, Alexander L., Tracey T. Sutton, William M. Kier, and Sönke Johnsen. "Evidence that eye-facing photophores serve as a reference for counterillumination in an order of deep-sea fishes." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 287, no. 1928 (2020): 20192918. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2918.
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Counterillumination, the masking of an animal's silhouette with ventral photophores, is found in a number of mesopelagic taxa but is difficult to employ because it requires that the animal match the intensity of downwelling light without seeing its own ventral photophores. It has been proposed that the myctophid, Tarletonbeania crenularis, uses a photophore directed towards the eye, termed an eye-facing photophore, as a reference standard that it adjusts to match downwelling light. The potential use of this mechanism, however, has not been evaluated in other fishes. Here, we use micro-computed tomography, photography and dissection to evaluate the presence/absence of eye-facing photophores in three families of stomiiform fishes. We found that all sampled species with ventral photophores capable of counterillumination possess an eye-facing photophore that is pigmented on the anterior and lateral sides, thus preventing its use as a laterally directed signal, lure or searchlight. The two species that are incapable of counterillumination, Cyclothone obscura and Sigmops bathyphilus , lack an eye-facing photophore. After determining the phylogenetic distribution of eye-facing photophores, we used histology to examine the morphology of the cranial tissue in Argyropelecus aculeatus and determined that light from the eye-facing photophore passes through a transparent layer of tissue, then the lens, and finally strikes the accessory retina. Additionally, eight of the 14 species for which fresh specimens were available had an aphakic gap that aligned with the path of emitted light from the eye-facing photophore, while the remaining six had no aphakic gap. These findings, combined with records of eye-facing photophores from distantly related taxa, strongly suggest that eye-facing photophores serve as a reference for counterillumination in these fishes.
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Hennicker, L., J. Puls, N. D. Kee, and J. O. Sundqvist. "A 3D short-characteristics method for continuum and line scattering problems in the winds of hot stars." Astronomy & Astrophysics 633 (December 23, 2019): A16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201936584.
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Context. Knowledge about hot, massive stars is usually inferred from quantitative spectroscopy. To analyse non-spherical phenomena, the existing 1D codes must be extended to higher dimensions, and corresponding tools need to be developed. Aims. We present a 3D radiative transfer code that is capable of calculating continuum and line scattering problems in the winds of hot stars. By considering spherically symmetric test models, we discuss potential error sources, and indicate advantages and disadvantages by comparing different solution methods. Further, we analyse the ultra-violet (UV) resonance line formation in the winds of rapidly rotating O stars. Methods. We consider both a (simplified) continuum model including scattering and thermal sources, and a UV resonance line transition approximated by a two-level-atom. We applied the short-characteristics (SC) method, using linear or monotonic Bézier interpolations, for which monotonicity is of prime importance, to solve the equation of radiative transfer on a non-uniform Cartesian grid. To calculate scattering dominated problems, our solution method is supplemented by an accelerated Λ-iteration scheme using newly developed non-local operators. Results. For the spherical test models, the mean relative error of the source function is on the 5 − 20% level, depending on the applied interpolation technique and the complexity of the considered model. All calculated line profiles are in excellent agreement with corresponding 1D solutions. Close to the stellar surface, the SC methods generally perform better than a 3D finite-volume-method; however, they display specific problems in searchlight-beam tests at larger distances from the star. The predicted line profiles from fast rotating stars show a distinct behaviour as a function of rotational speed and inclination. This behaviour is tightly coupled to the wind structure and the description of gravity darkening and stellar surface distortion. Conclusions. Our SC methods are ready to be used for quantitative analyses of UV resonance line profiles. When calculating optically thick continua, both SC methods give reliable results, in contrast to the alternative finite-volume method.
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Demidov, Alexey A., and Mikhail N. Piganov. "On-board equipment testing procedure for the effects of electrostatic discharges." Physics of Wave Processes and Radio Systems 27, no. 2 (2024): 69–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.18469/1810-3189.2024.27.2.69-76.
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Background. The relevance of the topic of this work is due to the need to improve the reliability and quality of the assessment of the stability of the onboard electronic equipment of spacecraft to electrostatic discharges. Aim. Investigation of the possibilities of using the electron flux in vacuum as a test effect on the spacecraft’s on-board radioelectronic equipment in assessing its resistance to electrostatic discharges. Methods. Field experiment, research laboratory tests, modeling, mock-up, expert assessments. The article considers the conditions for the existence of an electronic stream in the «electronic spotlight» and «scanning» modes. A mock-up of an electronic device, which was previously used for testing in the atmosphere of air, was used as a test object. It has been structurally modified taking into account the dimensions, wiring diagram, tooling and electrophysical characteristics of the vacuum chamber. The modified layout is a first-level module with antennas located inside the housing. During the experiment, a vacuum meter, a kilovoltmeter, a digital oscilloscope with a bandwidth of 500 MHz, a high-voltage cable, a two-wire line, a hermetic plate, and an electron gun were used. The required vacuum was created using an automated pumping system. Results. The conditions for the existence of an electron flow in a vacuum chamber with a pressure of up to 10–7 mm Hg have been experimentally established. The results of research tests of the radioelectronic module in the «electronic searchlight» and «scanning» modes have been obtained. The main types of interference from the action of electrostatic discharges are investigated. The analysis of the waveforms was carried out. Based on these results, a methodology has been developed for testing the onboard equipment of spacecraft for the effects of electrostatic discharges. The proposed method provides testing at a level of operating discharge current up to 30 µA with particle energy from 5 to 50 keV. Conclusion. The test procedure and the means of its implementation comply with the basic requirements of GOST «Resistance to electrostatic discharges» and can be used for ground tests of spacecraft onboard equipment at four degrees of rigidity.
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Bannish, Gregory, Dorie Makropoulos, Meredith Perpetua, et al. "Cross Laboratory Validation of An In Vitro Screen for Cytokine Release Syndrome." Blood 116, no. 21 (2010): 2778. http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/blood.v116.21.2778.2778.
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Abstract Abstract 2778 Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) are widely used in anti-inflammatory and tumor therapy. They are highly effective in certain diseases, but can cause a range of adverse effects. Toxicity may result from the expected pharmacological effects of the antibody and from interactions with antigen expressed on tissues other than the intended target. The results range from mild infusion reactions to cytokine release syndrome (CRS). A number of mAbs are associated with CRS on the first dose in humans (including: anti-CD3, anti-CD52; anti-CD20, anti-CD25 and anti-CD28 superagonist) that were not predicted by preclinical studies in animals. To address this issue, we have developed an in vitro screen using cultured human whole blood that assess the potential for mAb to cause CRS. The purpose of these experiments was to determine if the assay can be transferred to different laboratory and conducted using a different analytical platform and different donors. mAbs are bound to Protein A coated polystyrene beads (Spherotech) and incubated with whole blood from 6 normal human volunteers diluted in media (1:10) in 96 well plates. PBS (no beads) and Autologous Plasma are negative controls, while LPS (1 ug/mL); LPS and superagonist anti-CD28 (ANC28.1/5D10, Ancell) serve the positive controls. After incubation for 48 hr, the supernatants are collected and cytokines (IFN-γ, TNFα, IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and IL-12) assayed using SearchLight® (Aushon Biosystems) or MSD® (Meso Scale Discovery) platforms. The response to superagonist anti-CD28 was distinctly different from the response to LPS, anti-CD20 and anti-CD52. Although the absolute values for the cytokines differed across the analysis platforms, Spearman Rank Order analysis showed a statistically significant correlation for most cytokines. Moreover, when the average values were normalized to the response to LPS, hierarchical cluster analysis classified the responses measured by the two platforms in an identical manner. In conclusion, this study has shown that an in vitro whole blood based assay can classify mAb according to the potential to cause CRS in humans and suggest that the assay can be transferred successfully across laboratories and analysis platforms. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
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Clark, Thomas Alan, and Alan Dyer. "Rainbows in searchlight beams." Weather, October 11, 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wea.4480.
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AbstractTwo independent sections of rainbows produced by the illumination of intense rain by separate shipboard searchlights have been photographed and analysed to compare their characteristics to those measured in normal rainbows produced by sunlight and in garden sprays, and to rainbow theory. Two specific features distinguish these rainbows from normal solar rainbows, the wider spacing of primary and secondary intensity peaks and the broadness of these peaks. The most likely cause of these differences is the angular width of the searchlight beams compared to that of sunlight.
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Urbschat, Annika, Stefan Uppenkamp, and Jörn Anemüller. "Searchlight Classification Informative Region Mixture Model (SCIM): Identification of Cortical Regions Showing Discriminable BOLD Patterns in Event-Related Auditory fMRI Data." Frontiers in Neuroscience 14 (February 1, 2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2020.616906.
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The investigation of abstract cognitive tasks, e.g., semantic processing of speech, requires the simultaneous use of a carefully selected stimulus design and sensitive tools for the analysis of corresponding neural activity that are comparable across different studies investigating similar research questions. Multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) methods are commonly used in neuroimaging to investigate BOLD responses corresponding to neural activation associated with specific cognitive tasks. Regions of significant activation are identified by a thresholding operation during multivariate pattern analysis, the results of which are susceptible to the applied threshold value. Investigation of analysis approaches that are robust to a large extent with respect to thresholding, is thus an important goal pursued here. The present paper contributes a novel statistical analysis method for fMRI experiments, searchlight classification informative region mixture model (SCIM), that is based on the assumption that the whole brain volume can be subdivided into two groups of voxels: spatial voxel positions around which recorded BOLD activity does convey information about the present stimulus condition and those that do not. A generative statistical model is proposed that assigns a probability of being informative to each position in the brain, based on a combination of a support vector machine searchlight analysis and Gaussian mixture models. Results from an auditory fMRI study investigating cortical regions that are engaged in the semantic processing of speech indicate that the SCIM method identifies physiologically plausible brain regions as informative, similar to those from two standard methods as reference that we compare to, with two important differences. SCIM-identified regions are very robust to the choice of the threshold for significance, i.e., less “noisy,” in contrast to, e.g., the binomial test whose results in the present experiment are highly dependent on the chosen significance threshold or random permutation tests that are additionally bound to very high computational costs. In group analyses, the SCIM method identifies a physiologically plausible pre-frontal region, anterior cingulate sulcus, to be involved in semantic processing that other methods succeed to identify only in single subject analyses.
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Wallenwein, Lara A., Stephanie N. L. Schmidt, Joachim Hass, and Daniela Mier. "Cross-modal decoding of emotional expressions in fMRI – cross-session and cross-sample replication." Imaging Neuroscience, 2024. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/imag_a_00289.
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Abstract The theory of embodied simulation suggests a common neuronal representation for action and perception in mirror neurons (MN) that allows an automatic understanding of another person’s mental state. Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) of fMRI data enables a joint investigation of the MN properties cross-modality and action specificity with high spatial sensitivity. In repeated measures and independent samples, we measured BOLD-fMRI activation during a social-cognitive paradigm, which included the imitation, execution, and observation of a facial expression of fear or anger. Using support vector machines in a region of interest and a searchlight-based within-subject approach, we classified the emotional content first within modalities and subsequently across modalities. Of main interest were regions of the MN and the emotional face processing system. A two-step permutation scheme served to evaluate significance of classification accuracies. Additionally, we analyzed cross-session and cross-sample replicability. Classification of emotional content was significantly above chance within-modality in the execution and imitation condition with replication across session and across samples, but not in the observation condition. Cross-modal classification was possible when trained on the execution condition and tested on the imitation condition with cross-session replication. The searchlight analysis revealed additional areas exhibiting action specificity and cross-modality, mainly in the prefrontal cortex. We demonstrate replicability of brain regions with action specific and cross-modal representations of fear and anger for execution and imitation. Since we could not find a shared neural representation of emotions within the observation modality, our results only partially lend support to the embodied simulation theory. We conclude that activation in MN regions is less robust and less clearly distinguishable during observation than motor tasks.
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Bruera, Andrea, and Massimo Poesio. "EEG Searchlight Decoding Reveals Person- and Place-specific Responses for Semantic Category and Familiarity." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, February 2, 2024, 1–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_02125.
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Abstract Proper names are linguistic expressions referring to unique entities, such as individual people or places. This sets them apart from other words like common nouns, which refer to generic concepts. And yet, despite both being individual entities, one's closest friend and one's favorite city are intuitively associated with very different pieces of knowledge—face, voice, social relationship, autobiographical experiences for the former, and mostly visual and spatial information for the latter. Neuroimaging research has revealed the existence of both domain-general and domain-specific brain correlates of semantic processing of individual entities; however, it remains unclear how such commonalities and similarities operate over a fine-grained temporal scale. In this work, we tackle this question using EEG and multivariate (time-resolved and searchlight) decoding analyses. We look at when and where we can accurately decode the semantic category of a proper name and whether we can find person- or place-specific effects of familiarity, which is a modality-independent dimension and therefore avoids sensorimotor differences inherent among the two categories. Semantic category can be decoded in a time window and with spatial localization typically associated with lexical semantic processing. Regarding familiarity, our results reveal that it is easier to distinguish patterns of familiarity-related evoked activity for people, as opposed to places, in both early and late time windows. Second, we discover that within the early responses, both domain-general (left posterior-lateral) and domain-specific (right fronto-temporal, only for people) neural patterns can be individuated, suggesting the existence of person-specific processes.
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Elugoke, Saheed E., Yared S. Worku, Taiwo W. Quadri, V. V. Srinivasu, and Eno E. Ebenso. "Harnessing niobium-based MXenes for sensors and energy storage applications: The past, the present and the future." Applied Physics Reviews 11, no. 2 (2024). http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0211843.
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Niobium carbide MXenes belong to a class of metal carbide MXenes with niobium as the early transition metal. The transformation of niobium carbide MXene sheets in to few-layer MXene sheets, the combination of the niobium-based MXene with other materials, delamination, intercalation, and partial oxidation of the niobium carbide MXene sheets have resulted in the formation of a material with excellent energy storage and sensing potentials. Herein, the synthesis and classification of the niobium-based MXenes (NBM), their application as sensing materials for a wide range of analytes, and their energy storage potentials are discussed exhaustively. The various transformations of niobium carbide MXenes over the last two decades are also established in this timely review. Essentially, this review is a searchlight on the prospects of NBM, the current state of their application, and their relevance in the materials research community.
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Lositsky, Olga, Janice Chen, Daniel Toker, et al. "Neural pattern change during encoding of a narrative predicts retrospective duration estimates." eLife 5 (November 1, 2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/elife.16070.
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What mechanisms support our ability to estimate durations on the order of minutes? Behavioral studies in humans have shown that changes in contextual features lead to overestimation of past durations. Based on evidence that the medial temporal lobes and prefrontal cortex represent contextual features, we related the degree of fMRI pattern change in these regions with people’s subsequent duration estimates. After listening to a radio story in the scanner, participants were asked how much time had elapsed between pairs of clips from the story. Our ROI analyses found that duration estimates were correlated with the neural pattern distance between two clips at encoding in the right entorhinal cortex. Moreover, whole-brain searchlight analyses revealed a cluster spanning the right anterior temporal lobe. Our findings provide convergent support for the hypothesis that retrospective time judgments are driven by 'drift' in contextual representations supported by these regions.
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Wu, Huanqi, Xiaoyu Liang, Ruonan Wang, Yuyu Ma, Yang Gao, and Xiaolin Ning. "A Multivariate analysis on evoked components of Chinese semantic congruity: an OP-MEG study with EEG." Cerebral Cortex 34, no. 4 (2024). http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhae108.
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Abstract The application of wearable magnetoencephalography using optically-pumped magnetometers has drawn extensive attention in the field of neuroscience. Electroencephalogram system can cover the whole head and reflect the overall activity of a large number of neurons. The efficacy of optically-pumped magnetometer in detecting event-related components can be validated through electroencephalogram results. Multivariate pattern analysis is capable of tracking the evolution of neurocognitive processes over time. In this paper, we adopted a classical Chinese semantic congruity paradigm and separately collected electroencephalogram and optically-pumped magnetometer signals. Then, we verified the consistency of optically-pumped magnetometer and electroencephalogram in detecting N400 using mutual information index. Multivariate pattern analysis revealed the difference in decoding performance of these two modalities, which can be further validated by dynamic/stable coding analysis on the temporal generalization matrix. The results from searchlight analysis provided a neural basis for this dissimilarity at the magnetoencephalography source level and the electroencephalogram sensor level. This study opens a new avenue for investigating the brain’s coding patterns using wearable magnetoencephalography and reveals the differences in sensitivity between the two modalities in reflecting neuron representation patterns.
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Ma, Yumeng, and Jeremy I. Skipper. "Individual differences in wellbeing are supported by separable sets of co-active self- and visual-attention-related brain networks." Scientific Reports 15, no. 1 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-86762-w.
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Abstract How does the brain support ‘wellbeing’? Because it is a multidimensional construct, it is likely the product of multiple co-active brain networks that vary across individuals. This is perhaps why prior neuroimaging studies have found inconsistent anatomical associations with wellbeing. Furthermore, these used ‘laboratory-style’ or ‘resting-state’ methods not amenable to finding manifold networks. To address these issues, we had participants watch a full-length romantic comedy-drama film during functional magnetic resonance imaging. We hypothesised that individual differences in wellbeing measured before scanning would be correlated with individual differences in brain networks associated with ‘embodied’ and ‘narrative’ self-related processing. Indeed, searchlight spatial inter-participant representational similarity and subsequent analyses revealed seven sets of co-activated networks associated with individual differences in wellbeing. Two were ‘embodied self’ related, including brain regions associated with autonomic and affective processing. Three sets were ‘narrative self’ related, involving speech, language, and autobiographical memory-related regions. Finally, two sets of visual-attention-related networks emerged. These results suggest that the neurobiology of wellbeing in the real world is supported by diverse but functionally definable and separable sets of networks. This has implications for psychotherapy where individualised interventions might target, e.g., neuroplasticity in language-related narrative over embodied self or visual-attentional related processes.
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Kronborg, Thit Mynster, Henriette Ytting, Lise Hobolth, Søren Møller, and Nina Kimer. "Novel Anti-inflammatory Treatments in Cirrhosis. A Literature-Based Study." Frontiers in Medicine 8 (September 23, 2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2021.718896.
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Liver cirrhosis is a disease characterised by multiple complications and a poor prognosis. The prevalence is increasing worldwide. Chronic inflammation is ongoing in liver cirrhosis. No cure for the inflammation is available, and the current treatment of liver cirrhosis is only symptomatic. However, several different medical agents have been suggested as potential healing drugs. The majority are tested in rodents, but few human trials are effectuated. This review focuses on medical agents described in the literature with supposed alleviating and curing effects on liver cirrhosis. Twelve anti-inflammatory, five antioxidative, and three drugs with effects on gut microflora and the LPS pathway were found. Two drugs not categorised by the three former categories were found in addition. In total, 42 rodent studies and seven human trials were found. Promising effects of celecoxib, aspirin, curcumin, kahweol, pentoxifylline, diosmin, statins, emricasan, and silymarin were found in cirrhotic rodent models. Few indices of effects of etanercept, glycyrrhizin arginine salt, and mitoquinone were found. Faecal microbiota transplantation is in increasing searchlight with a supposed potential to alleviate cirrhosis. However, human trials are in demand to verify the findings in this review.
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Cohodes, Emily M., Paola Odriozola, Jeffrey D. Mandell, et al. "Neural effects of controllability as a key dimension of stress exposure." Development and Psychopathology, January 17, 2022, 1–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954579421001498.
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Abstract Cross-species evidence suggests that the ability to exert control over a stressor is a key dimension of stress exposure that may sensitize frontostriatal-amygdala circuitry to promote more adaptive responses to subsequent stressors. The present study examined neural correlates of stressor controllability in young adults. Participants (N = 56; Mage = 23.74, range = 18–30 years) completed either the controllable or uncontrollable stress condition of the first of two novel stressor controllability tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) acquisition. Participants in the uncontrollable stress condition were yoked to age- and sex-matched participants in the controllable stress condition. All participants were subsequently exposed to uncontrollable stress in the second task, which is the focus of fMRI analyses reported here. A whole-brain searchlight classification analysis revealed that patterns of activity in the right dorsal anterior insula (dAI) during subsequent exposure to uncontrollable stress could be used to classify participants' initial exposure to either controllable or uncontrollable stress with a peak of 73% accuracy. Previous experience of exerting control over a stressor may change the computations performed within the right dAI during subsequent stress exposure, shedding further light on the neural underpinnings of stressor controllability.
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Liang, Shiyu, Yang Gao, Chonghao Hu, et al. "State of the Art in Efficient Translucent Material Rendering with BSSRDF." Computer Graphics Forum, December 22, 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cgf.14998.
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AbstractSub‐surface scattering is always an important feature in translucent material rendering. When light travels through optically thick media, its transport within the medium can be approximated using diffusion theory, and is appropriately described by the bidirectional scattering‐surface reflectance distribution function (BSSRDF). BSSRDF methods rely on assumptions about object geometry and light distribution in the medium, which limits their applicability to general participating media problems. However, despite the high computational cost of path tracing, BSSRDF methods are often favoured due to their suitability for real‐time applications. We review these methods and discuss the most recent breakthroughs in this field. We begin by summarizing various BSSRDF models and then implement most of them in a 2D searchlight problem to demonstrate their differences. We focus on acceleration methods using BSSRDF, which we categorize into two primary groups: pre‐computation and texture methods. Then we go through some related topics, including applications and advanced areas where BSSRDF is used, as well as problems that are sometimes important yet are ignored in sub‐surface scattering estimation. In the end of this survey, we point out remaining constraints and challenges, which may motivate future work to facilitate sub‐surface scattering.
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Bezsudnova, Yulia, Andrew J. Quinn, Syanah C. Wynn, and Ole Jensen. "Spatiotemporal Properties of Common Semantic Categories for Words and Pictures." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, May 10, 2024, 1–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_02182.
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Abstract The timing of semantic processing during object recognition in the brain is a topic of ongoing discussion. One way of addressing this question is by applying multivariate pattern analysis to human electrophysiological responses to object images of different semantic categories. However, although multivariate pattern analysis can reveal whether neuronal activity patterns are distinct for different stimulus categories, concerns remain on whether low-level visual features also contribute to the classification results. To circumvent this issue, we applied a cross-decoding approach to magnetoencephalography data from stimuli from two different modalities: images and their corresponding written words. We employed items from three categories and presented them in a randomized order. We show that if the classifier is trained on words, pictures are classified between 150 and 430 msec after stimulus onset, and when training on pictures, words are classified between 225 and 430 msec. The topographical map, identified using a searchlight approach for cross-modal activation in both directions, showed left lateralization, confirming the involvement of linguistic representations. These results point to semantic activation of pictorial stimuli occurring at ≈150 msec, whereas for words, the semantic activation occurs at ≈230 msec.
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Lee, In-Seon, Jae-Hwan Kang, and Junsuk Kim. "Auditory influence on stickiness perception: an fMRI study of multisensory integration." NeuroReport, February 2, 2024. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/wnr.0000000000002003.
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This study explored how the human brain perceives stickiness through tactile and auditory channels, especially when presented with congruent or incongruent intensity cues. In our behavioral and functional MRI (fMRI) experiments, we presented participants with adhesive tape stimuli at two different intensities. The congruent condition involved providing stickiness stimuli with matching intensity cues in both auditory and tactile channels, whereas the incongruent condition involved cues of different intensities. Behavioral results showed that participants were able to distinguish between the congruent and incongruent conditions with high accuracy. Through fMRI searchlight analysis, we tested which brain regions could distinguish between congruent and incongruent conditions, and as a result, we identified the superior temporal gyrus, known primarily for auditory processing. Interestingly, we did not observe any significant activation in regions associated with somatosensory or motor functions. This indicates that the brain dedicates more attention to auditory cues than to tactile cues, possibly due to the unfamiliarity of conveying the sensation of stickiness through sound. Our results could provide new perspectives on the complexities of multisensory integration, highlighting the subtle yet significant role of auditory processing in understanding tactile properties such as stickiness.
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Bogler, Carsten, Andrea Zangrossi, Chantal Miller, Giuseppe Sartori, and John‐Dylan Haynes. "Have you been there before? Decoding recognition of spatial scenes from fMRI signals in precuneus." Human Brain Mapping 45, no. 7 (2024). http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hbm.26690.
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AbstractOne potential application of forensic “brain reading” is to test whether a suspect has previously experienced a crime scene. Here, we investigated whether it is possible to decode real life autobiographic exposure to spatial locations using fMRI. In the first session, participants visited four out of eight possible rooms on a university campus. During a subsequent scanning session, subjects passively viewed pictures and videos from these eight possible rooms (four old, four novel) without giving any responses. A multivariate searchlight analysis was employed that trained a classifier to distinguish between “seen” versus “unseen” stimuli from a subset of six rooms. We found that bilateral precuneus encoded information that can be used to distinguish between previously seen and unseen rooms and that also generalized to the two stimuli left out from training. We conclude that activity in bilateral precuneus is associated with the memory of previously visited rooms, irrespective of the identity of the room, thus supporting a parietal contribution to episodic memory for spatial locations. Importantly, we could decode whether a room was visited in real life without the need of explicit judgments about the rooms. This suggests that recognition is an automatic response that can be decoded from fMRI data, thus potentially supporting forensic applications of concealed information tests for crime scene recognition.
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Vitória, Maria Araújo, Francisco Guerreiro Fernandes, Max van den Boom, Nick Ramsey, and Mathijs Raemaekers. "Decoding Single and Paired Phonemes Using 7T Functional MRI." Brain Topography, January 23, 2024. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10548-024-01034-6.
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AbstractSeveral studies have shown that mouth movements related to the pronunciation of individual phonemes are represented in the sensorimotor cortex. This would theoretically allow for brain computer interfaces that are capable of decoding continuous speech by training classifiers based on the activity in the sensorimotor cortex related to the production of individual phonemes. To address this, we investigated the decodability of trials with individual and paired phonemes (pronounced consecutively with one second interval) using activity in the sensorimotor cortex. Fifteen participants pronounced 3 different phonemes and 3 combinations of two of the same phonemes in a 7T functional MRI experiment. We confirmed that support vector machine (SVM) classification of single and paired phonemes was possible. Importantly, by combining classifiers trained on single phonemes, we were able to classify paired phonemes with an accuracy of 53% (33% chance level), demonstrating that activity of isolated phonemes is present and distinguishable in combined phonemes. A SVM searchlight analysis showed that the phoneme representations are widely distributed in the ventral sensorimotor cortex. These findings provide insights about the neural representations of single and paired phonemes. Furthermore, it supports the notion that speech BCI may be feasible based on machine learning algorithms trained on individual phonemes using intracranial electrode grids.
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Levorsen, Marie, Ryuta Aoki, Kenji Matsumoto, Constantine Sedikides, and Keise Izuma. "The self-concept is represented in the medial prefrontal cortex in terms of self-importance." Journal of Neuroscience, April 7, 2023, JN—RM—2178–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.2178-22.2023.
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Knowledge about one’s personality, the self-concept, shapes human experience. Social cognitive neuroscience has made strides addressing the question of where and how the self is represented in the brain. The answer, however, remains elusive. We conducted two functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments (the second preregistered) with human male and female participants employing a self-reference task with a broad range of attributes and carrying out a searchlight representational similarity analysis. The importance of attributes to self-identity was represented in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), whereas mPFC activation was unrelated both to self-descriptiveness of attributes (Experiments 1-2) and importance of attributes to a friend’s self-identity (Experiment 2). Our research provides a comprehensive answer to the abovementioned question: The self-concept is conceptualized in terms of self-importance and represented in the mPFC.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT:The self-concept comprises beliefs about who one is as an individual (e.g., personality traits, physical characteristics, desires, likes/dislikes, and social roles). Despite researchers' efforts in the last two decades to understand where and how the self-concept is stored in the brain, the question remains elusive. Using a neuroimaging technique, we found that a brain region called medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) shows differential but systematic activation patterns depending on the importance of presented word stimuli to a participant's self-concept. Our findings suggest that one's sense of the self is supported by neural populations in the mPFC, each of which is differently sensitive to distinct levels of the personal importance of incoming information.
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Åström Rudberg, Elin, and Orsi Husz. "The technicians of consumer society: the creation of advertising men and practical advertising knowledge in early twentieth-century Sweden." Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, February 17, 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jhrm-11-2022-0032.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate an unexplored part of advertising history; namely, the education of a large, mundane, nonelite group of advertising professionals, so-called advertising technicians and the knowledge they acquired. Examining correspondence courses in the technology of advertising, we focus particularly on the production of technified knowledge and mass personas. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a qualitative analysis of course material from Sweden’s two largest correspondence schools in the 1930s and 1940s. Two theoretical concepts guide the analysis: the concept of market devices and the notion of personas, both of which we use to show how the courses crafted a particular kind of advertising professional as well as knowledge. Findings The study shows that courses created a template-based persona of the advertising technician, who possessed what we call bounded originality characterized by diligence, modesty and rule-governed creative imagination. Similarly, the courses created a body of knowledge that was controllable and highly practice-oriented. The advertising technician was expected to embody and internalize the advertising knowledge, thus, becoming an extension of this knowledge on the market. Originality/value By directing the searchlight at the cadre of ordinary, middle-class advertising professionals instead of the high-profile “advertising creatives” and innovators, the paper brings to the foreground the nonelite level of the advertising industry. These practitioners went to work in the business world to produce the everyday advertising that was not necessarily groundbreaking but was needed in a growing mass-consumption society.
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Bailey, Lyam M., Heath E. Matheson, Jonathon M. Fawcett, Glen E. Bodner, and Aaron J. Newman. "Differential weighting of information during aloud and silent reading: Evidence from representational similarity analysis of fMRI data." Imaging Neuroscience, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1162/imag_a_00428.
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Abstract Single word reading depends on multiple types of information processing: readers must process low-level visual properties of the stimulus, form orthographic and phonological representations of the word, and retrieve semantic content from memory. Reading aloud introduces an additional type of processing wherein readers must execute an appropriate sequence of articulatory movements necessary to produce the word. To date, cognitive and neural differences between aloud and silent reading have mainly been ascribed to articulatory processes. However, it remains unclear whether articulatory information is used to discriminate unique words, at the neural level, during aloud reading. Moreover, very little work has investigated how other types of information processing might differ between the two tasks. The current work used representational similarity analysis (RSA) to interrogate fMRI data collected while participants read single words aloud or silently. RSA was implemented using a whole-brain searchlight procedure to characterize correspondence between neural data and each of five models representing a discrete type of information. Both conditions elicited decodability of visual, orthographic, phonological, and articulatory information, though to different degrees. Compared with reading silently, reading aloud elicited greater decodability of visual, phonological, and articulatory information. By contrast, silent reading elicited greater decodability of orthographic information in right anterior temporal lobe. These results support an adaptive view of reading whereby information is weighted according to its task relevance, in a manner that best suits the reader’s goals.